Ducting Mod *PICS*

So I was looking at a couple other threads on this and decided to give it a go. http://forum.oc-forums.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=210751

The only problem was that I couldn't go straight out from my hsf to the side of the case because that's where the handle/lock is. Off to Home Depot. I picked up some flexible ducting that goes behind a dryer and figured it would do the job. Once home I made some adapters for each end of the ducting to connect to the 80 mm fan on one end and my hsf on the other end. Then taped it all up. Next, I took out my dremel and did the normal cutting the hole in the side of the case for the intake fan. Hooked it all up and it worked nicely. My load temps are down 7 degrees C and I was able to puch my oc a little further for a grand total of $5. Here are some pics I took with my POS digicam. Don't complain.

yeah that flexible dryer stuff works great.
i couldnt figure out how to attach a solid duct to the side of my case and on to the heatsink like the link u mentioned. It would be impossible to open up the side of the case.

i think you could use a straight solid duct on a standard case- it would just have to be set up so that it doesn't tape or screw or bolt to the cpu's heatsink- instead it would have to get as tight a seal as possible (maybe with some foam rubber weather stripping?) that would be able to pop off when the case side is removed-

Yea it would be a lot easier with a standard case. You could definately do a straight duct and that would work better than a curved one, but I had no choice. I took the fan off my heatsink and taped the duct to only the fan so it wouldn't interfere with the heatsink. Like you said, the other end just pops on and off when you take the side off.

Just a thought..... What about..... VELCRO? Stick some velcro on the side panel, and the other side of the velcro to the ducting... Not the most efficient, but it just might work

I've seen a lot of people using those ducts before. Has it really helped out the cooling?

Yes. Like I said above, it dropped my load temp 7 C.

That looks nice, and it's functional too.
Good job.

how do you cut a hole with dremel?
which bit did you use? does it cut nice and clean?

I use 80mm hole saw with drill, it does the job but alway messy and rough around cut edge.

I traced an 80 mm circle. Then I just used about 4 cut-off discs total and took my time cutting around what I traced. After about 5 laps I was able to cut through. It was a little jagged then so I took out my sanding bit and worked on it until it was smooth. It still wasn't a perfect circle so I went down to the automotive store and picked up some U-channel molding to fit around the edge. All done and it looks good.

here's mine

http://home.bellsouth.net/p/s/community.dll?ep=16&ext=1&groupid=104113&ck=

How's the condensation on that?